


Today

by imaginationtherapy



Series: The Kaleidoscope Project [26]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Mental Illness, Poems, Poetry, Recovery, bipolar, normal - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 16:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17124689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginationtherapy/pseuds/imaginationtherapy
Summary: Today was just a normal day. And it was the first normal day of my life.





	Today

Today was just another day. And it was the most beautiful day of my life.  
I woke up. Soon my rooms smelled nutty like the coffee chattering in the pot. I spun in a dress that would make the right impression: classic yet fun, tailored with a touch of eccentric geometry. Coffee poured into mug, and I left.

Today was the first day of my third year of teaching. And it was the first day of the first year of teaching that didn’t threaten to drown me.  
I unlocked the door and was greeted by a year’s worth of emotional memories. Marvelous, ordinary, overwhelming memories. But I am resilient now. I let them wash over me without grabbing hold of any. I replace them with hope, and left to greet my students.

Today was the first day my energy was honest, not a facade. And it was the first day that it didn’t dissipate with the ticking of the clock.  
I made mistakes. Dropped more than my fair share of papers and pens. But students need to see perfect pictures of imperfect adults. I left my classes with the knowledge I could have done better. I left my classes knowing I had done my best. I left my classes knowing I had done enough. I left my classes, and returned home.

Today was the first day I left, taking with me an interest in the rest of the day. And it was the first day I wasn’t afraid of the rest of the year.   
It was the first day that I did not bleed out in the effort to survive. The first day that I was not a runner pushed well beyond her limits, collapsing far short of the finish line. The first day that the classroom did not imprison me, walls closing in around me. Today gave me the gift of the evening--time to relax, to enjoy the companionship of others, rather than retreat in an ever-vain attempt to collect the scattered feathers of my sanity. Today gave me the gift of hope for more tomorrows just like today.

Today was just another day. And it was the most beautiful day I’ve ever seen.


End file.
